Kernel upgrade needed to go wireless
 

I'm running a dual boot system, Windows XP and Red Hat 8.0. My kernel is presently 2.4.18-14
I plan to get broadband so an ADSL modem router is on my shopping list - I'd really like to be wireless, though, so I guess I need to upgrade my kernel to 2.6.x in order to get a USB adapter to work, or else to 2.4.28 (ish) to get an internal adapter to work (probably using ndiswrapper).
Or, I suppose, I could get a second wireless router and simply connect the existing ethernet socket to that !!!
I use Mozilla / Ximian 95% of the time when on-line, only rarely do I use the Windows side for browsing.
I like my setup just as it is so I would be very grateful for any advice as to the least disruptive way to get a wireless adapter working. If I can avoid the problems that surround ADSL routers and IP addresses that seem to plague those of us with dual boot setups, so much the better.

Thank you!